dcf blog

Where are the Hero and Girl WODs?

Posted by Andrew Killionat 12:52 pm

(By: NGL)

Every so often I field questions about why our programming looks a little different than a ‘typical’ CrossFit Gym (if there is such a thing). Particularly, why we do so few of the famous Girls (Fran, Diane, Grace) and Heroes (Murph, Ryan, JT). Several of us perhaps got our start at another gym where these workouts were done almost daily. So, why do we see them so infrequently here at DCF?

The answer comes down to what the intention of our workouts are in the first place, which is above all else, improvement. Our first priority when putting together WODs is how we can make the biggest gains from day to day for all of our members. Every workout that we do is designed to elicit a very particular response from you, the athlete. And this response, or in other words, how a workout feels, is the most important thing when trying to make the most of your time in the gym. And the truth of the matter is that the famous CrossFit workouts very seldom achieve that end for everybody in a class.

Take “Isabel”, for instance (30 snatches, 135/95). For some advanced athletes, 135 pound snatch is relatively light, and this workout takes less than 2:00. For some folks, however, 135 may be max-effort and may take… 15:00 or longer. The ‘response’ that these two athletes are getting is completely different. At least one of them, or perhaps even both, are doing a workout that is less-than-perfect (to put it lightly) for getting the most out of the time in the gym. While it’s true that sometimes these workouts fit the bill for some athletes and they often serve as a nice benchmark (remember, measuring is different than training), very seldom does it fit the bill as appropriate training for everybody in a class.

Now if that explanation still doesn’t slake your lust for these types of WODs, we do often hand-pick the better Girls and Heroes for Sunday’s group classes – with appropriate modification available where needed, of course. Just be mindful of your coach’s advice when it comes to how to best tailor these workouts so you can get the most out of them.

Comments2

JLO04.10.14 at 2:24 pm

I know how to fix this. Do Fran, Grace, Isabel, Barbara, Elizabeth and Diane next week all in a row and no one will ever ask to do a girl WOD again.

Annie04.14.14 at 9:39 pm

First, I miss DCF! Second, I joined a box in Denver where they did tons of Hero and Girl WODs and I went backwards in my goals. It wasn’t so much training as just “working out.” Trust the DCF coaching! They know what they are doing!